“beauty, which is what is meant by art…is a positive necessity of life…”
- william morris, 1880
“all art is quite useless.”
- oscar wilde, 1891
“shut up and play yer guitar.”
- frank zappa, 1981

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Quick Q & A/Link break...

Just because most people don't read the comments, and it'd be nice if I could provide links to all these, here are answers to some questions from the last post:Question:

Scott,

Wow dude, I've really been enjoying your last couple of posts. Probably because I relate to it with my music processes, but still. You write really well about it. I'd be curious to know if there is a circle of people within your industry or other people you know that are involved in this stuff that keep blogs like this too. Really impressed.

BrettAnswer:

Thanks, Brett. I don't know anyone within my own industry doing it, which is why I do it - I want it to exist.

But there are lots of people out there writing about their work - check these out, off the top of my head - If I can think of others, I'll post them:

And here's something really important about the concept of "just keep working" - when you truly understand what it means to work, to put your head down and just fucking put in the hours - you don't necessarily need people to tell you about it. You can just look at it, or listen to it, or read it, and you know. You just know what went into it, and it blows you away, and no one has to speak a word of it.

Question:

Hey Suapyg, could you possibly provide a couple of examples of great furniture art? I want to gain some perspective on your art vs. others.

Good post by the way.

Answer:

Wow. I could do that all day, and I'd still be afraid I wasn't scratching the surface.

Here are a few friends who inspire me - this is a wildly incomplete list, maybe in the future I can do a whole post about all the people whose work makes me want to pursue a career in refrigerator repair.

There are many others who don't have websites, largely because they don't need them.

Apparently, at some point I'm going to have to put up a real post about this. As I said, this list is wildly incomplete, and of course, it's without commentary.

Also, keep in mind that some of those people don't consider their work "art," they'd argue that it is just furniture. I'll have to elaborate on that, as well.

And most importantly, remember that this is only a tiny sampling of contemporary work - these people are all alive and still working. Any true representation of the field would have tons of history in it, as well - while my friend and fancy Yale scholar Ned Cooke would tell you that "studio furniture" has its roots in the 1940's, I would argue that it goes all the way back to the Egyptians. And I'd mean it.

And I'd be right (this is me sticking my tongue out at you, Ned!).

I don't necessarily want this blog to be specifically about studio furniture or art furniture or design art, or whatever the hell they're calling it these days, it's more about actually doing the work, and what the work is, doesn't really matter.

But in order to give people an idea of the scope and diversity in the tiny little corner of the world where I live, I'll try to put up a good summary somewhere down the line.

For the next few weeks (months?), though, I'm going to build these chairs - and if you're interested, I'd love it if you'd come with me and watch me do it.

2 Comments:

I was in awe in shooting your work for ForbesLife. The Craftsmanship done on that peace was Majestic and you were great to work with also.... Mark Grischke at ForbesLife should Get all the praise for bringing High Qulity Products to his readers for many Years... I Think your work is Great. I am forwarding your Blog on to others in hopes that you get the attention You and your Products Deserve .. RR

Ron, it was absolutely mutual, man. It was a pleasure to work with both you and Mark, you're the most professional and effective photographer I've worked with, and Mark Grischke at Forbes was fantastic - not only was he gracious and accomodating, he has a great eye and a fast mind!You can count on this - you're going to be photographing these ebony chairs when they're done!- Scott

Links to this post:

About Me

Once a musician, writer, and spoken word performer, Scott Braun now designs and builds sculptural furniture by commission as he runs a "co-op" shop in Brooklyn, acts as President of Furniture New York, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Furniture Society. He also critiques and lectures on the subjects of design and craft, and has recently joined the faculty in the Sculpture Department at the Yale University School of Art.
His work has been placed in the homes of collectors throughout the United States, and is frequently featured in design magazines such as Interior Design, ForbesLife, House Beautiful, and the NYTimes Home section. He is still young enough to be excited about the future, and just old enough to know it's all gone to hell.